Yoshi went to his first shiba meetup and went through a range of emotions. When he first got there, he was excited and got into rough play with a few of the bigger dogs but as more and more shibas joined in and time went on, he started to get a bit overwhelmed and wanted to blend into the wall. I would say that at its peak, there were over 40 shibas of varying ages and sizes and would strongly encourage you to take your shiba to one if you never have done that before. One of the things I quickly learned is that socialization with more than 10 dogs around is much different than socialization on play dates or at training classes where there are less than 8 dogs. I also got to ask questions from an owner's perspective to some of the other owners who had older shibas that they had since birth and it was very enlightening actually speaking face-to-face. It was also amazing to see how many of these shibas came from the same breeder that I got Yoshi from.

Here are a few pics:

Yoshi playing with a dog on a play bridge. Yoshi is the one with the blue rabies medallion on the right. He really liked this bridge!

Yoshi getting overwhelmed as he wanted to melt into the wall. Shiba packs kept coming up to him trying to get him to join their packs as they roamed the enclosed room. I took him out to relax by himself after about 90 minutes.

Gatsu - as this was my first meetup, I have nothing to compare it to and I think Yoshi had a fun time in the bigger picture. Keep in mind that here in the Boston area, all of the outdoor parks are covered over still in about a foot of snow down from 2 feet the week before. With that said, the next meetup is in a very nice outdoor park/trail with a fenced in dog park. I think they mentioned they may try to stagger when owners come in so that there isn't that big crescendo of shibas.

I live in Cambridge, MA and I would also love to know about Shiba meetups! Other than Puppy K classes, the only big dog event we've gone to is the 2014 Somerville Dog Festival! Sadly we didn't run into any other shibas, but I'd LOVE to see how Severus reacts to one of his own kind!

It seems like the previous Boston Shiba meetup group has lost its previous organizer. I do sincerely hope everything is ok with him and his shiba - I figured maybe he's moving away or something...

I'd hate to see the meetup group disappear since it seems like a lot of fun! Does anybody have any thoughts on a new organizer? I would volunteer, but I'm brand new to the meetup group and I haven't even been able to attend a single meetup yet. Not sure how effective of a group organizer I'd be at this point... The website says the group will be canceled if a new organizer doesn't step up in 11 days :(

You guys should definitely look into this issue and see why he stepped down. If it's a financial reason, try looking at options. I know our Bay Area shiba meet up is sponsored by the local shiba rescue. So maybe you guys can try to contact your local shiba rescue to see if that's an option?

You'll definitely need an organizer that is active, attends most meet up and is a good role model for the group. :)